How to do a Railey To Blind by Helena Brochocka

Step 1

Get some speed and go for a railey. Normally the bigger you go the more time you will have to turn to blind. I mean, sure you can start a bit smaller, with more of a shifty, don’t load full on, cause you will just fly away, but try to aim for more than a tiniest little pop ! The trick will also be much easier if you keep your kite low ! If your kite is high, it will be very hard to keep the bar in your hands, as the kite will be pulling up, and disturbing your position. So keep it low !

Step 2

The pop is very important for this trick, and the biggest secret is to follow the kite ! Don’t try to pop in the direction you’re riding, pop way more downwind than you do for a normal railey ! This way your kite will give you more slack, which will allow you to turn to blind. While throwing a railey remember to keep your bar close to your body, but don’t just pull it it, really focus on pushing it down !

Step 3

As soon as you feel the kite slack, pull the bar towards yourself and down. Start turning your body into a blind position, but keep both hands on the bar as long as you can ! This will make this trick much easier.

Step 4

When you’ve initiated the rotation, let go of the bar with your back hand, and look through your back shoulder.

Step 5

Keep turning until your body falls into a blind position. Keep the bar close to your body as you prepare to land. Remember to spot your landing as soon as you can see the water, if you look at the right place your body will automatically follow your head!

Step 6

As you land blind, bend your knees, and lean forward, not to let the kite flip you on your back. Try to land evenly on both legs rather than just your back leg, this way you won’t slip out of the landing. As soon as you’re stable on the water, pass the bar behind your back, and regain your kite control. Note that on this trick you kite will most likely shoot down, as you’re hanging on your front hand, that is why it is quite important to quickly pass the bar and pull it back up.

When you’re done learning the movement it, you can try going bigger and bigger every time. The bigger you go, the harder it will be to actually ride out blind (eventhough that looks cool), so you should probably start to search the bar with your hand even before you land. If you pass it immediately, you are more likely to ride out of it. That is something we sometimes like to call a “landpass” and can be useful especially, if like me, you have the tendency to pull the kite way more down than necessary on this trick.

And remember, keep on trying ! If something doesn’t work out, take a minute to think what can you improve or try differently. If you have friends with a camera, ask them to film your attempts ! It’s always good to analyse your mistakes, and see them for yourself. And most importantly have fun with it, even when things get frustrating, and we all know very well, they can ;)

Here is the full video for you to be able to see the trick step by step.

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Published on: 7th February 2017